Off the Record
by Dreaming Chrysanthemum
Summary: Everyone knows that Setsuna can't find love in Crystal Tokyo. What they don't know is that she is able to find it elsewhere, due to her expertise with Time. And while her happiness comes at a risk of hurting those she loves the most, it's justifiable if she leaves the present out of it, right? What happens in the past can stay there. It's off the record, you might say.
1. Noodles & Lies

Setsuna felt very out of place, sitting in one of the finest restaurants in Crystal Toyko, sipping wine and chatting merrily about her life with the queen as though they were two, average, middle-aged women. Obviously, being the guardian of time made her not only out of the ordinary, but also literally as old as the universe.

All of the soldiers were, really, but she'd always felt older than them. Maybe it was her lipstick. None of the other girls wore lipstick. However, her transformations were never complete without it. It was her staple. So if it made her look five to ten years older, it wasn't a big deal.

"Are you all right, dear? You look distracted," said the queen, speaking clearly while still managing to shovel noodles into her mouth at an alarming rate. Setsuna was amazed that her long blonde hair wasn't getting in the way. She smiled to herself. Usagi had gotten exponentially more mature over the years, but some things just never changed.

"I'm so sorry, my queen," she said, feeling like a major narcissist at all the thought she'd just given to her lipstick. "I guess I'm just…not used to this."

"Used to being normal?" Usagi smiled.

Setsuna laughed. "I guess. If this is 'normal'. For so many years, sitting around and guarding the gates of time was considered 'normal' to me. It just makes me nervous, having them unprotected."

"But they _are_ protected, Miss Setsuna," replied the queen. "It's all part of Small Lady's training." She stabbed at her noodles particularly hard at that statement.

"She is only sixteen."

"Nine hundred and sixteen."

"Same thing. She is only sixteen and I worry about her, all up there on her own. She's not used to having such a big responsibility."

"Well, it is for her own good," replied Usagi, stabbing at her noodles again. "She needs to be out and away from…..everything."

"Everything meaning….Helios?" said Setsuna, trying not to giggle. She was more than sure that Neo Queen Serenity had sent her daughter to the gates of time to get her away from her boyfriend of four years, Helios—not because she needed "training".

"Yes," said the queen. "Exactly."

As protective as she was of Small Lady, Setsuna did not see anything wrong with her and Helios being so close. Sure, it hurt a little bit when she first caught them kissing in the princess's bedroom, but just because she had a hard time accepting that the little pink haired girl who called her "Puu" for much of her life was growing up so quickly. Actually, she was more than certain that Helios was at the gates with her. And who knew what they were up to. But she kept her mouth shut.

"So," said Usagi, with an edge in her voice that made it sounds like she was digging for information. "Do you have any…ah….._love interests,_ Miss Setsuna?"

Setsuna's throat tightened. She hated this conversation.

"Sorry to disappoint…but no." Such a lie.

"This is ridiculous," said the queen. "You are a beautiful, intelligent woman, and there is no reason why you should not have a man."

"There is just...no one here for me, that's all."

That was half true. Hey, maybe she was making some progress.

"But you know what, Setsuna?" Usagi smiled broadly. "You have the ultimate tool."

"What do you mean?" she replied, perfectly aware of where this was going. Usagi, although a great ruler, could be read like a book for toddlers, completely void of rhetorical devices.

"_Time_. Some women have to just deal with what their generation has handed to them. But you? You could find someone in the past, or in the future, and it would be so easy."

Setsuna smiled back at her, but the smile was very strained. This was partly because of Usagi's naïveté….and partly because she had already done just that.


	2. The Plan

-Three Years Earlier-

_Why, oh why, do sailor suits have to be complete with heels_? thought Sailor Pluto, trying to stand entirely still as she noticed her feet aching more and more with each passing second. _I just took a break to the past like, thirty hours ago_, she thought. _I guess I'll just have to suffer for a while longer before I leave again…or maybe I'll just cut this shift short…_

_You will not_, said another voice in her head. _You're lucky you even have breaks now. Remember the past, when the solar system was in danger, and you couldn't move for centuries at a time?_

_Yes, well, _said the other voice, _my feet hurt._

She sighed. Stupid heels. At least all of the other sailor scouts wore heels too, and had to share in the fashionable misery.

_Tuxedo Mask doesn't have to wear heels._

She laughed at this thought. Of course he didn't. He was a man; the only male guardian in the entire solar system…and a very attractive one at that. With his dark hair, and midnight blue eyes, it was hard not to notice. She let her mind wander to the time Small Lady was a toddler, and managed to get herself lost in the palace. The King was frantic, the Queen was on a trip to the past, and Setsuna had searched and searched with him, finally finding her in a cupboard under one of the many kitchen sinks, sleeping, with her tiny hands clutching onto a bottle of (thankfully unopened) window cleaner. Mamoru had been so worried that he almost started to cry, and upon finding her, he pulled Setsuna into a giant hug and squeezed her tightly. It was nice…he was warm…and he smelled good. She could have stayed like that for hours…and maybe it was her wishful thoughts warping the memory, but he wasn't too happy with the idea of letting go…

She heard something in the distance and snapped back to reality, as realization dawned on her about what kind of reactions her mind and body were having to this memory. _Wow, Setsuna, _she thought. _Don't go there; I thought you were over that?_

"Yes," she decided to herself quietly. "I'm very, very over that. I mean he's obviously very good looking; so what if I have a crush? It's harmless. I'm sure all of the other girls have had crushes on him, with the exception of Haruka and Michiru, obviously. It's not like anything could ever happen…"

_Except, maybe…_

"Hi, Miss Setsuna!"

Her heart leapt at the sound of a friendly voice, and came crashing down when she realized that it was Small Lady, calling her Miss Setsuna. Was she too old to call her Puu? She then realized, when Chibiusa came into focus, that she was with Helios. No wonder. Like she would call her Puu in front of her boyfriend.

"Hi, Chibiusa," she said, avoiding 'Small Lady' to avoid the 'I'm not small, I'm nine hundred and thirteen years old' conversation.

"We were just," started Chibiusa, giggling as Helios wrapped his arms around her from the back, "Coming to visit, and stuff."

Setsuna's heart panged a little as she noticed that Small Lady's dress was hanging a little more off one shoulder and that her lips were redder than usual.

"Oh," she said, forcing a smile at them both. "That's very sweet of you guys. But you're awfully far from home…shouldn't you be heading back? It's probably getting late in Crystal Tokyo. Mama Usagi is probably getting worried."

Helios stepped up beside Chibiusa and nodded seriously. "I told her I'd have you home by nine."

_Well_, thought Setsuna, _at least he's somewhat responsible._

Chibiusa rolled her eyes. "I guess. Mom can be so overprotective."

_Actually I was just thinking if she's protective enough, letting her thirteen old daughter go to the gates of time, at night, with a sixteen year old boy_.

Setsuna didn't say anything, but she nodded.

Chibiusa left Helios and got within a few inches of Setsuna's face. "Are you okay, Puu?" she whispered.

Setsuna's heart lifted a little. "I'm fine, Small Lady," she murmured back. "Just fine."

Chibiusa's face broke into a wide smile. "Good. I'll come visit you again soon, okay?"

"All right," said Pluto, smiling back at her. "But I'm not kidding, you'd better get home. You don't want Miss Usagi getting mad at you." She winked at the pink haired girl standing before her. _Since when was she so tall?_

"Fair enough," she said, rolling her eyes once more. Bye, Miss Setsuna!" she said louder, as she turned and started walking back with Helios, who also waved a silent, shy goodbye. She noticed how her long hair flew out behind her as she walked, and shined, even though there wasn't any light reflecting off of it in the moderately dark and cloudy areas surrounding the gates. Just like Usagi's. She noticed her confident walk. Just like Mamoru's.

Setsuna felt like the most horrible person in the entire universe, for all of the thoughts that were running through her mind at that moment. But at that point, she'd already decided what she was going to do. Once she was sure Helios and Small Lady were gone, she whispered the code to the gates of time, and watched as they opened before her. Heart thumping with guilt and excitement, she slowly walked towards them. She had a plan.


	3. 1988

Setsuna's reintroduction to the year 1988 started with her hitting the pavement in an empty alley, her Garnet Rod making an obnoxiously loud clatter. It was sunset. As she stood up and brushed herself off, she realized that even though she knew what she wanted to do, she didn't quite know how she was going to make it happen.

"Well," she said to herself. "All good missions start with a disguise, I suppose."

She swished the Garnet Rod around her body, and closed her eyes as she transformed, hoping that no one would randomly come around the corner. When she was done, she tried to inspect herself as best as she could without a mirror. She pulled her hair around in front of her eyes, immediately noticing that it was at least three feet shorter, now hardly reaching her shoulders. It looked black, but shone in a way to suggest that it might look green in bright sunlight. She was wearing a short black skirt, a red top, and red flats. She felt shorter (which may have been the absence of the usual horrible, heeled boots), and her chest felt lighter and her hips seemed less defined. Perfect. She probably looked around fourteen, which would have been _his_ age…

Setsuna was very pleased, but soon realized that the hardest part was what was still coming. How on _earth_ was she going to find him? She walked down the alley, until she was able to make a right onto a main street. It was pretty crowded, and there were little shops and food establishments everywhere. Very much unlike the 30th century, which had a calm, peaceful atmosphere at pretty much all times.

She looked to her left and was thankful that she saw it – her Garnet Rod. She was still holding it. It wasn't all that inconspicuous, being twice her height and sort of glowing and all of that. She smiled and ducked behind the corner into the alley again. A few years into her Sailor Soldier training, she had realized that if she closed her eyes, thought of something, and said "dead…scream" all dramatically, her Garnet Rod would generally do what she wanted it to. She really only ever did it to disguise the thing and to entertain herself at the gates.

"Dead…..scream….."

Her Garnet Rod whirled around in the air and then vanished, its disguise replacing it a few feet above her head, spinning as it fell towards the ground. She caught it.

_Perfect_, she thought, putting the object into her pocket. _All the teenagers have these. I am so smart._

She turned out onto the road again.

She walked down the sidewalk, looking around for him, even though her chances of finding him this way were very small. What did she know about him, at this age? He must have been living either in foster care or on his own. He must have been a freshman in high school. Most importantly, he hadn't met Usagi.

Usagi's voice floated into her head. _He was kind of new to the whole relationship thing_, the queen had said during one lunch with Setsuna. _I'm pretty sure I was his first kiss!_ Usagi's giggle stayed in her mind as she walked, further and further out of the main area of town and towards a neighborhood. Her feet were beginning to hurt again, but she hardly noticed.

_I wish I knew where my legs were taking me_, she thought. _They are much more confident than my brain is, obviously…_

The houses were close together and she felt like she had already passed dozens. No sooner than she started to zone out did she hear a boy's voice from a house she'd passed.

"HEY! HEY YOU! YOU! EMILY?"

She kept walking without turning around.

"HEY! WAIT! COME BACK!"

She stopped, confused, and turned. The boy was speaking English now. She was not expecting that.

"E-MI-LY," yelled the boy slowly. "YOU-ARE-E-MI-LY-RIGHT?"

English. Crap. Why couldn't she remember any English?

"Hello!" she said in Japanese. "What are you saying to me?"

"Oh," replied the boy in Japanese also. "Never mind. I thought you were the new exchange student from America."

"Oh—uhm—yes, I am," said Setsuna, forcing a laugh.

The boy looked confused and kind of weirded out. "You are not. You didn't understand my English."

"I was only joking, silly!" replied Setsuna, in English, as it started coming back to her.

The boy's face brightened. "And you speak Japanese that well?"

"Yes, I like Japanese better, actually. I've taken classes practically my whole life."

"Good, because my English sucks if you didn't notice," replied the boy, switching back to Japanese. "Anyway, I was going to invite you inside! I'm having a small party and I knew you were coming into town today and I wanted to be the first to welcome you properly to the area and to some other students. Unless you've already got plans with your host family. I'm Kaito, by the way."

"Oh, no, that sounds great, thanks, Kaito," replied Setsuna. She entered his house, noticing him eyeball her from head to toe in a very interested way. "I'd really love to meet some friends before my first day of school."

It was pretty small, and she realized that thankfully, no parents were in the house. So much less pressure if there were only students around.

"We're all in my room, in the back of the house," he said. "This way." He led her down a small hallway, passing two bedrooms and a bathroom. As they approached the end of the hall, she heard voices and laughter. _Maybe they'll know where to find him_, she said. _The boy looked around the same age…_

"Everyone," said Kaito, as he led her into a room with three girls and five or six boys.

"This is Emily. She's the exchange student from America. But she speaks Japanese."

Setsuna had barely walked into the room when she noticed one of the boys immediately. Black hair, blue eyes. Quiet and reserved looking. Tall. _No way,_ said Setsuna,_ there is no way I would ever be this lucky. My eyes are playing tricks on me and I'm probably creeping this poor guy out_.

"Emily," Kaito continued, as everyone waved and said 'hello'. He pointed to a girl with short pink hair and said, "That's Mami." The blonde girl sitting next to her was introduced as Kaori, and another blonde girl with longer hair was called Tomoko. She couldn't keep track as he rushed through the boys' names—Isamu, Kenta, Manabu, Osamu… Finally pointing to the boy she was trying not to stare at so intensely to say, "Mamoru."

_No. Freaking. Way._


	4. Fourteen

A/N: I have no idea what social games Japanese teenagers played for fun in 1988, as I was (a) not conceived and am (b) American. This is age fourteen as I remember it.

* * *

There was an awkward pause in which everyone in the room stared at her as she stared at Mamoru. Once she realized that all eyes were on her and that he was turning pinker and pinker as the seconds wore on, she said, "Sorry, you look almost _exactly_ like my best friend…." _American names, American names?! _… "Charlie. I'm pleased to meet all of you."

His face paled out to a normal color and he smiled and they all said varying forms of "pleased to meet you too" at once.

"So," said the girl she thought was named Mami, with a mischievous grin. "We were just about to spice this party up and play a drinking game. Ever played Never Have I Ever?"

Setsuna debated with herself and decided that it would probably turn out worse for her if she lied about this particular thing. "No," she said, "I don't think so."

"Its fun," Kaori chimed in, flipping her long hair with her hand. "Do we have real alcohol this time, Mami?"

Mami sighed. "No, I couldn't get any. Green tea will have to do." She gestured to a large, thermos looking porcelain bottle which apparently held the tea, which was to the right of her.

"So where do you live in America?" said one of the boys…._Osamu?_

"Uhm. Texas," she said. It was the first one she could remember from maps.

Kaito laughed. "Do you have horses and cattle? And aren't you supposed to have a funny accent?"

_Crap_. "Uhm. No. Well, I have a horse. No cattle…our land isn't big enough."

Kaito nodded. She quietly let out all the air she had been holding in from not breathing.

"Okay guys," said Mami, "Let's get in a circle."

Mamoru groaned. "We're really going to play?"

"Uh, _yeah_, it's totally fun," said the other girl, Tomoko.

"Sounds good to me, but I still say we should make sure to end the night with a good old-fashioned game of Seven Minutes In Heaven," said Kenta, rubbing his hands together and plopping himself down on the floor next to Kaori. He put his arm around her and slowly leaned in to her like he was going to put his head on her chest.

"Ugh, stop it, Kenta," she said, putting her palm on his ear and pushing him the opposite direction.

"You know you want me," he said.

"You wish I wanted you."

"GUYS," said Mami. "We all know you guys have wanted each other since like, sixth grade. Old news. Let's play. Let's get in a circle."

The rest of the boys listened to her. Mami must have been the leader of the group, Setsuna decided. She tried not to look at Mamoru too often.

"Oh, um," said Setsuna suddenly. "I still don't know how to play. And by the way, what's the time and day? I'm so mixed up after that long plane ride."

Mami nodded and Kaori said, "It's Friday, the 19th of August, and it's nine-thirty."

"And my parents are gone for the weekend," said Kaito, smiling widely. "So you guys can hang out all night if you want to."

"Are you sure your host family is fine with you being out?" said Mami.

"They're really chill," replied Setsuna. "I told them I wanted to go walk around and explore on my own and they only nodded and told me to be back before morning."

They all stared at her.

"You. Are. So. _Lucky_!" exclaimed Kenta. "I would give anything for that kind of permission!"

"ANYWAY," Mami cut in, apparently uninterested in carrying on this conversation, "to play the game, we all go around in a circle and take turns saying 'Never have I ever…such and such'. Then, if you've done it, you have to drink."

_Sounds easy enough_, thought Setsuna.

"Emily, why don't you start us out?" said Kenta, winking at her. Mami placed the green tea in the middle of the circle.

"Oh, uhm, okay…" she said. She thought for a moment. "Never have I ever…eaten a frog."

Mami laughed out loud. It was a little rude, Setsuna thought. "That's _so_ not how this game is," Mami told her. "Don't be _lame_ about it…think of fun stuff. Think of gossipy stuff you'd want to learn about all of us."

_Oh god,_ thought Setsuna. _I can't be fourteen. I can't I cant I can't I can't….this is so stupid._ She looked up at Mamoru, who was smiling at her. Not in a rude way like Mami, but in an…..appreciative way? Was that it?

"Maybe you should give her an example," said Kaori. "Start us off, Mami."

"Okay. Never have I ever….had sex."

_Oh dear god._

One of the boys reached for the green tea. They all stared at him, and soon Kaori and Mami burst into a fit of giggles.

"I didn't know you were _that_ kind of boy, Manabu," said Tomoko.

"Yeah, who's the girl?" said Kaito. "How come you've never mentioned this before, huh?"

"Well," said Manabu. "No questions. Isn't that a rule? No questions allowed."

"Oooh, someone's touchy," said Kenta. "Emily, you should try again now that you know how the game works."

Setsuna thought for a moment. She didn't want to talk about sex, or her nonexistent sex life, especially since she was posing as a young teenage girl. That seemed to be what they were looking for.

"Never have I ever…." she started slowly. "…Kissed someone."

They all turned at stared at her again, and she felt more like a freak than she had following the awkward frog-eating question.

"You've _never_ kissed someone?" said Mami loudly. "_Ever?_ Jeez, Emily, I wouldn't expect that coming from an American."

They all took a sip from the green tea. Everyone except for Mamoru, which definitely didn't go unnoticed by the girls.

"YOU TOO, Mamoru?" said Kaori. "But you're like, so hot. How is that even possible?"

Mamoru looked down at the ground and mumbled something about never having a girlfriend. Setsuna tried to give him a supportive smile, but he continued to look at his crossed legs.

"Okay, well, this is _such _a waste of time," said Mami. "Into the closet, both of you. We are playing seven minutes in heaven and you're both going in."

Setsuna turned and looked at her, wide-eyed. "What in the world is that?"

"You get in a closet and make out," said Kento. He turned to the other boys and made groping gestures in the air and they all laughed. "Hey, Kaori, after they go, how about you and I…." He trailed off and made more crude hand gestures.

"You are such a pervert," she said to him, but Setsuna noticed that she had put her hand on his leg at the conclusion of the statement.

"I don't want to play," said Mamoru. "Why don't we do something that's actually fun?"

"This will be fun. You just have to try it, then you'll see. Go. Into the closet." Mami pointed to a small closet just outside the room and across the hallway.

Setsuna and Mamoru shared a look. They seemed to reach a silent understanding that it would be easier for both of them if they just went into the closet.

They stood up.

The girls giggled loudly.

The boys cheered and yelled, "Get some!" at Mamoru's back.

But as Setsuna approached the closet just behind Mamoru, she felt something fall out of her pocket. It made a clatter on the floor. Before she was able to pick it back up again, Kenta had grabbed it.

"What in the world is _this_?"

Setsuna's throat tightened. He was holding her disguised Garnet Rod. "What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.

Mami took it and pressed one of the buttons and it lit up.

"Oh my god, what is this?"

The reality struck Setsuna like a ton of bricks as she realized her mistake.

"It's nothing," she said quickly, and swiftly grabbed her disguised Garnet Rod from Mami. "I…I have to go," she said. "Good to meet all of you and thank you, Kaito."

"No problem, Emily," mumbled Kaito confusedly.

Setsuna put it back into her pocket and left the room.

_How could I have done that,_thought Setsuna as she exited the house. _How could I have forgotten._

She turned down into the allyway, mumbled, "Dead…Scream…" and the iPhone flew out of her pocket, twirled around in the air above her head, and turned back into the Garnet Rod.

She caught it.

_ Excellent_, she thought, as she went through the motions to travel back into the future. _Now I have to go check on the 2000s to make sure my little screw up back there didn't ruin Apple's technological success._


End file.
